October 2012

Welcome to the Month of October- not too hot, just a tad under 100 degrees.

I did my stretches, yoga, dumbbells, core trainer, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag, and ran a mile and a half.

When I went out to start my morning run today, a butterfly was flying around me. I held out my finger and it flutter onto it. I’ve had weirder stuff happen to me in my life, but this was kinda neat. A bit of wind piped up and blew the butterfly off its perch. I saw it flutter away but not too far. I was thinking to myself, wow that was kinda cool, when it flutters back onto my index finger which I still held out. I turned my back into the breeze that was blowing from the northeast so the little critter wouldn’t get blown off again. I held out my finger for a mighty long spell as we both looked at each other. How fascinating to have this tiny “quantum mind” sitting in awe of me as I was in awe of it. When we were both done, I walked it over to a creosote bush where I let it walk off unto a small branch with little yellow flowers.

I did my studies; Latin; drew something (a desert scene with a rabbit); and did the 1100 words you need to know workbook”.

I water the plants again. Fired up the Harley and let her run for a spell.

I then swept and mopped the bedroom and bathroom floors.

I went for my evening walk with my backpack.

I got caught up with my astronomy reading.

I did my stretches and went for a night run.

Tuesday 02- temps around 98 degrees.

I did my stretches, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag. I would of went for a run but had to wait around for Honda to call about delivering my scooter.

2:30pm Honda delivered my scooter.

I did a review in “Beginning Latin” book and a lesson in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: two people standing at a table.

Chris Jonas came by for a visit on his way to Bingo. He asked me how my trip went and I said fine. I’ll tell you Chris notices everything; walking past the Cougar he tells me my tag has expired, and then he sees I got a flat on the right front tire of the Gross Polluter. I didn’t notice the flat and I drove it out of the carport just Sunday and noticed it was a little bumpy. The license tag was waiting at my mailbox. 

Once the sun had set I rode the scooter down to fetch my mail down on Border Ave. The scooter ran just fine and I didn’t have to push it back like last time.

I watched an episode each of “Warehouse 13” and “Castle”.

I went for a night run.

I practiced my guitar.

Wednesday 03- cooler weather…

I did my stretches, yoga, ran a mile and a half, and lifted dumbbells.

I’m still reviewing “Beginning Latin” book; I’m having trouble with cases, and a lesson in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: a woman’s face.

I swept and mopped the kitchen and living room floors.

Thursday 04- yes cooler! A new trend!

I did my stretches, core trainer, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag, and ran up the hill and back carrying 5lbs in each hand.

I’m still reviewing “Beginning Latin” book; I’m having trouble with cases, and a lesson in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: a woman’s face.

I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website but not posted it yet; Annelies sent in story early.

I went to Roger’s to drop a key off to him.

I called Kula and then Linda H. for a long spell.

I went for a night run.

Friday 05- cooler still!

I did my stretches.

I posted the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the newsletter.

I did the shopping routine with Kelly today. We started off from her house at 1:30pm and I got back home after midnight. We went to the post office, Rite Aid, Star Pharmacy and waited there for over an hour for a simple refill. We had lunch at the Sizzler where we had steak and salad bar and played with our tablets and other electronic devices. Then we went shopping at WalMart and Staters Bros. I could hardly walk after helping get all her groceries into her house. We rested outside to do a little stargazing.

Saturday 06- still nice!

I did my stretches, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

Frank dropped by for a short visit with his son and friend. They are here for the weekend.

I mostly rested from all the standing and walking I did yesterday…

Sunday 07- a very nice and cool day.

I did my stretches and ran a mile and a half.

I went on my evening walk.

I went outside at a little after 10pm to watch the meteor shower. I only saw one but I was also looking at the dust clouds around Cygnus; that’s my favorite spot in the sky. Checked out the Andromeda Galaxy, Pleiades, Jupiter, and a bunch of others stuff with my large binoculars… I was out there till past midnight but monitored FBGTM from time to time to see if anyone else was there...

I watched episode 2 of “Last Resort” about a US submarine that got an order to fire nuclear missiles into Pakistan, but didn’t because the order came from a secondary source. As the Captain was verifying a US vessel fired upon them causing them to make a quick dive… the rest you’ll have to watch :)

Monday 08- Nice again outside.

I did my stretches, yoga, core trainer, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag, and ran a mile and a half.

I did a lesson in “1100 words you need to know workbook,” and I drew something: a woman and a dog.

Jimmy Stonebraker called to chat for a long spell.

I worked on my books. Carolyn has been kind enough to help me edit Book 2 of "Rainbow at the End of Tomorrow". Lots of work still to do getting them ready to print; I'd rather be writing than editing :)

Tuesday 09- much cooler today.

I did my stretches, ran one and a half miles, and lifted dumbbells.

I went to pick up my mail down at Border Ave on the little scooter; it’s running well! I wish I had brought my camera. I saw some really cool lenticular clouds on the way there and they had a red lining to them from the sunset. On the way back there was this massive cumulonimbus cloud that was way off in the distance colored with the sunset’s last rays.

I went for a night run.

I had battery problems at 1am.  I heard a low voltage warning buzz from my inverter and went out to investigate with flashlight and voltage meter in hand. Two of my batteries were showing voltage of 4.5VDC and two others were 6.2VDC ; not good. I disconnected the two 4.5VDC and hooked the 6.2VDC together to get 12VDC. The warning buzz went away and I’ll have to wait till morning to see if I can run all my AC off of two batteries instead of four.

Wednesday 10- cloudy and it rained a bit…

I did my stretches, ran a mile and a half, core trainer, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag, and ran up the hill and back carrying 5lbs in each hand.

At 2pm it rained for about ten minutes making the ground too wet for any running.

The rain came down here a whole bunch late last night! Right around 2am I was woken by great flashes of light and the loud roar of lightning strikes very near my little home; I pulled the covers over my head and that's where I hid, cowering away until it passed ;)

Thursday 11- cloudy all day

I did my stretches, yoga, ran one and a half miles, and lifted dumbbells.

I worked on the batteries…

I drove the Harley down to my mailbox on Lear and then went to visit Mac to jaw with him for a spell.

I went for an evening walk.

I watched episodes of “Warehouse 13” and “Castle”.

I went for a night run.

Friday 12- another cloudy day with a few sprinkles.

I did my stretches, core trainer, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag, and ran up the hill and back carrying 5lbs in each hand.

I picked up Kelly at 2pm to take her to Rite Aid to drop her prescription to get it filled. They said it’d be a few hours and we said that would be fine. We then went to Staters to pick up a roasted chicken and took it to Burger King where we bought drinks, onion rings, and used their fabulous Kung Pow sauce to dip our chicken in. We went back to Staters to do our shopping when Rite Aid called Kelly’s cell to say the pills were ready. We took our time finishing our shopping and then waltzed into Rite Aid and got her pills. I arrived home and walked in my door at 6:30pm, not bad for shopping with Kelly.

I worked on my book…

Saturday 13- real sunny outside with little clouds around 76 degrees.

I did my stretches, yoga, ran one and a half miles, and lifted dumbbells.

I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.

Sherry came by to yak for a spell of our old friends up here who have passed on. I gave her one of my books to read and edit if she wants to.

I drove the little scooter to the mailbox on Border to pick up whatever is in there.

I went for an evening walk with my backpack.

I watched episode 3 of “Without Remorse”.

I went for a night run.

Sunday 14- the weather is heating up a bit.

I did my stretches.

Roger S. came by with the keys I lent him and he edited my book. He thought it was better than he thought it would be… That’s praise from Roger.

I had to help a good friend Kula do a fresh install of Windows 7 over the phone. I talked her through it which was really tough for her because she never had to go into BIOS and change the boot sequence so it would boot to CD drive instead of to the hard drive. All went well and she was up and running in a few hours; Staples wanted her to pay $200 to do it!

Then I finally got in touch with Kelly to help her clean her house. She has a homecare provider coming this Monday to help her while she’s recovering from surgery that is scheduled sometime in the next few weeks.

I worked on my books.

Monday 15- a bit hotter than yesterday.

I did my stretches, core trainer, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag, and ran a mile and a half.

Chris Jonas came by with my groceries from the USDA food distribution. He said that over 90 folks showed up; many more than usual. I asked him about the council meeting and he said it was quite the fiasco with words being traded between the Garden Committee and about everyone else; now I am glad I didn’t go.

I worked on the batteries. Having charged the two failing ones separately they now hold a charge and I put them back in parallel with the other two. I’ll see how they do tonight and if they continue to hold a charge.

I finally decided to paint the carport roof, but didn’t have any paint rollers. I went to WalMart to buy some, picked up some fried chicken at Staters, and stopped in at Home Depot to get a longer paint handle stick thingy so I can stand up while painting.

I then got home and painted the roof I needed to do.

I went on my evening walk with my backpack.

I watched episode 2 of “Castle”.

I went for a night run and when I got back did some stargazing for a spell. I’m not too familiar with the autumn sky constellations so I got out the star chart and tracked down Aquarius, Pisces, and Capricornus. These have faint stars and I was able to find them with the help of the Great Square of Pegasus and the bright lonely star Fomalhaut.

I practiced my guitar for a spell.

Tuesday 16- about as warm as it was yesterday.

I did my stretches, yoga, ran one and a half miles, and lifted dumbbells.

I went over to Stoney’s to do my laundry and while I was there I did a week’s worth of “1100 words you need to know workbook” lessons.

I changed the flat tire on the Gross Polluter. I was going to just take off the flat and put a plug in it, but my little DC air compressor wouldn’t work and I’ll have to tear it apart later. So I just put the spare tire on and will use the flat tire for a spare once I get it plugged.

I went for my evening walk with my backpack.

I’m still spending a lot of time on FaceBook and need to cut down on it again especially now that it is close to elections. I get a lot of inspiration from some posts that I use to create my own little sayings; some of what I write even makes sense once in a while. I like when I am focus and writing because I feel unbounded and anything is possible; which it is- I have to keep reminding myself of that fact.

I watched episode 2 of “Fringe”.

My batteries seem to be holding up okay and are keeping a charge so I can use my computer into the night. I really need this for my writings.

I went for a night run.

I practiced my guitar.

Wednesday 17- temps into the 100s!

I did my stretches, (3X: core trainer, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag), and ran a mile and a half.

I went for an evening walk with my backpack.

I watched episode 3 of “Fringe”.

I went for a night run and stargazed for a short spell.

Thursday 18- a little cooler but not by much.

I did my stretches, lifted dumbbells, yoga, core trainer, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag, and ran a mile and a half.

A guy who is friends with Kath called asking for my help with his computer; he can’t watch videos. His name is John and I told him to come on by and I’ll give it a look-see. He is a writer and in doing his research leaves many tabs open on different browsers which takes up most of his 4Gigs of RAM. So this is why the videos don’t play because there is not much RAM left. We ordered him 8Gigs from Crucial and I’ll put them in once he gets them delivered.

I went for an evening walk with my backpack.

I watched episode 8 of “Warehouse 13”.

I went for a night run.

Friday 19- a little cooler today.

I did my stretches, ran a mile and a half, (3X: core trainer, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag), and ran up the hill and back carrying 5lbs in each hand. This all took about two hours to do.

I updated the Copper Mountain Mesa Website and sent out the Newsletter.

I went for my evening walk with my backpack.

I watched season 2 episode 1 of “Sherlock Holms” a modern day Sherlock that I really like.

I did my stretches and went for a night run.

I practiced my guitar.

Saturday 20- weather about the same as yesterday except a little cooler at night.

I did my stretches, yoga, ran a mile and a half, lifted dumbbells, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

I messed around the house fixing things here and there.

I went for my evening walk with backpack.

I did some online webwork.

I did my stretches and went for a night run.

This is what I posted about my viewing the Orionid Meteor Shower on FaceBook from 10pm Saturday until I came into the house before 2am Sunday:

The Moon should set in about an hour from now. At that time I will go outside to watch for meteors from the Orionid meteor shower. I will be checking in on FGTM from time to time to see if anyone else is up tonight doing a little stargazing and meteor watching :)  I think I'll be going in ten more minutes and watch the Moon set behind the mountains to the west through my binoculars. I love doing that, watching the trees on the mountain tops as the Moon slides on down from behind!

 I'm sitting outside, not too cold... Orion came up as the Moon set about 11pm. Beautiful skies out tonight

 I can see Jupiter about 30 degrees above the horizon. The Milky Way is brilliant shining high overhead!

Just saw my first meteor right where it was suppose to come from.

 I saw a few more in the last 15 minutes...

 I used to sit out here with my Fat Cat to watch meteor showers; I sure miss that cat! He'd sit in my lap and just doze away. I had a laser pointer he used to chase all over the place

I'm getting a meteor about every 5 to 10 minutes. It should get better as the hours grow near sunrise

 A very cold wind came up and I'm headed inside... saw about 5 or 6 more meteors. So lovely and dark the sky was tonight!

Sunday 21- very nice weather outside!

I did my stretches- that’s about all I do on Sundays anymore.

I rode the Harley down to collect my mail at both mailboxes; an 18 mile trip!

I made pancakes for dinner… with the cooler weather I’m starting Pancake Sunday again!

I watched episode 2 of “Sherlock Holmes: Hound of the Baskervilles”; just fantastic!

Monday 22- another fine day but with a little breeze, temps in the mid 70s.

I did my stretches, yoga, ran a mile and a half with 1.5 lbs wrist weights, lifted dumbbells, (3X: core trainer, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag), and ran up the hill and back carrying 5lbs in each hand. I did everything! I’ve lately been doing the core trainer, lifted weights, and the heavy bag three times. I spend 5 minutes punching on the heavy bag for a total of 15 minutes. This all takes about 2 hours.

I watered all the plants in the yard.

I went for my evening walk with my backpack.

I did a lesson in Beginning Latin book and another in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something:

I watched season 5 episode 4 of “Castle”.

I went for a night run

Tuesday 23- Nice outside!

I did my stretches, yoga, ran a mile and a half with 1.5 lbs wrist weights, lifted dumbbells, core trainer, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag, and ran up the hill and back carrying 5lbs in each hand.

I did a lesson in Beginning Latin book (I’m just going to have to push my way through this Latin course) and another in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: a roof of a house.

I voted and rode the scooter to my mailbox on Border to mail it out. The scooter sat for about 4 days or so and it started right up. That’s a big improvement since they fixed it the second time.

I went for my evening walk with my backpack.

I watched season 2 episode 3 of “Sherlock Holmes: The Reichenbach Fall”.

I did my stretches and went for a night run.

Wednesday 24- very windy today and I don’t think the temps cracked 70 degrees.

I did my stretches, yoga, (3X: core trainer, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag), and ran about a mile carrying 5lbs in each hand; had to change my route because of the high winds.

I did a lesson in Beginning Latin book and another in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: a guy running.

I cleaned around inside some putting things away.

I went for my evening walk with the backpack. The winds had died down a bit so it was a nice walk.

Dana came by for a short spell to yap.

I watched season 4 episode 9 of “Warehouse 13”.

I did my stretches and went for a night run; windy and cold!

I practiced my guitar.

I watched season 1 episode pilot “Elementary” a Sherlock Holmes in present day New York City- quite good, but I like the BBC one better.

I read part of a section on beetles in “The Practical Entomologist”.

Thursday 25- a cool but pleasant day.

I did my stretches, yoga, ran a mile and a half, dumbbells, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

Kath’s friend John came by with the 8Gig Ram memory he purchased and I put it into his computer for him.

Linda H. just got back to her cabin after a long absents and I helped her unload her truck and carry boxes inside; was there for three hours.

I went for my evening walk with my backpack. There weren’t any high winds today!

I watched season 1 episode 2 and three of “Elementary”.

I did my stretches and went for a night run.

I did a lesson in Beginning Latin book and another in “1100 words you need to know workbook”, and I drew something: a woman’s face.

I practiced my guitar.

I read part of a section on beetles in “The Practical Entomologist”.

 Friday 26- dang it’s warming up a bit!

I did my stretches, yoga, ran a mile and a half with 1.5 lbs wrist weights, lifted dumbbells, (3X: core trainer, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag), and ran up the hill and back carrying 5lbs in each hand.

I went to WalMart and Staters

I had a big scare Friday! The brakes went out on my Cougar! Fortunately I was able to stop it with the emergency brake and ended up in the middle of an intersection... luckily no one was coming either way. I drove it very slowly home using the emergency brake... Passenger side back tire was covered in brake fluid when I finally got home to examine it... I will need to fix it...

Saturday 27- nice day today.

I did my stretches, ran for a mile and a half, dumbbells, core trainer, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag, and ran up the hill and back carrying 5lbs in each hand.

Sherry came by for a little spell and brought back the copy of my book I lent her two weeks ago; she liked it.

I called Family.

I went to Potluck with my taco chicken rice casserole. Not many folks showed but that’s okay with us. Mary Koval and Chris cooked up an old recipe from the Wild West called Cowboy Casserole, and also some strawberry jello for dessert. Chris Jonas made this fantastic potato salad that was to die for; I ate so much of it I nearly did. Marie Morrison whipped up a wonderful chocolate cake that quickly disappeared  Tim Atzei slaved over the stove all day to bring us some scallop potatoes. Ruth Malton concocted a fruit salad that was to everyone’s liking. We all left community center feeling full of food and Friendship.

I watched YouTube videos on how to repair disk brakes on a car.

Sunday 28- pretty day.

I did my stretches.

I went out to take the tire off and remove the hub so I could get at the disk brakes. I was surprised to find they are not disk but drum brakes with shoes. I found that one of the clips that holds the foreword shoe had cracked causing the shoe to slip off the caliper and dig a hole into the rubber boot that covers the piston. This is where all the fluid sprayed out.

I watched more videos now on YouTube about how to fix drum brakes.

Monday 29- nice day again.

I did my stretches.

I hopped on the scooter and drove down to Twentynine Palms to get parts. I had a package notice in my mailbox so I stopped at the post office first; they couldn’t find the package but said they’d call me when they did. At AutoZone they had one the parts I needed and will have it shipped up from Desert Hotsprings tomorrow. I stopped off at Stater Bros to pick up a few things and then had coffee at Burger King.

Linda H. called and wanted me to bring a key I had to her trailer. I went over and we had a nice visit.

I am so sad about the HMS Bounty sinking and the death of Claudene Christian. Someone asked me why they went out in hurricane Sandy…  I believe I read that it left over a week before the hurricane. Nobody knows how a hurricane will track and how bad it will be that far off in time. I also heard that they had planned to sail around it until they had a rudder and power malfunction or some such and were adrift without steerage. I am not knowing the specifics of the ship, I do have to say that a crew of 15 plus the captain is too small for a craft that size in bad really weather, though they may have had a lot of systems automated and depended a lot on mechanical help, when you get in trouble in seas that rough the crew gets overworked and with the loss of sleep to keep all quarters manned, mistakes happen... Saying this, I will not try to second guess or lay blame;

When you go to sea in little ships your life is at the whim, of what the weather may throw at you, your skill, fortitude, and luck. All ships will surely sink someday when all of these have failed and to the bottom she will swiftly seek to lie upon her keel.

Tuesday 30- nice and warm!

I did my stretches, yoga, ran a mile and a half, core trainer, lifted weights, and punched the heavy bag.

I was going to spend the whole day waiting for UPS to deliver a package but they came at 11am. So I hopped on my scooter and drove down to Twentynine Palms again. I stopped at the post office first to find that the postman wrote the wrong address on the receipt and they were able to find the package. At AutoZone I picked up the remaining parts I needed to complete my job. I went to McDonalds for coffee and a hamburger.

I went for an evening walk with my backpack.

Wednesday 31- another very nice day.

I did my stretches, dumbbells, ran a mile and a half, core trainer, lifted weights, punched the heavy bag, and ran up the hill and back carrying 5lbs in each hand.

I worked on my brakes and got them all done in a few hours. This has hopefully saved me much money if I did them correctly. I drove the Cougar to get my mail testing the brakes many times and it was working perfectly. I stopped off at Linda H. to yak for a spell and help her move some furniture around.

I went for my evening walk with my backpack.

I will watch some of my favorite programs tonight and also go for a night run, but I want to have this blog posted tonight because I’ll be doing a lot of writing in the month of November and will need to get things out of the way before midnight. It’s National Novel Writing Month (also known as NaNoWriMo)